Well friends, the time has come on this blustery snow day in New York to sit down and asses my goals and plan out a strategy for the short, medium and long term of my tennis playing.

This thread will chronicle my playing through 2011 and beyond.

I intend to share my goals in the hopes that writing them down and posting them publicly will help me adhere to them better, and force me to work harder to achieve them. I plan to document all travels and post up pictures and summaries of my adventures and misadventures along the way.

I am just getting over a back injury that has kept me sidelined for most of the past three months, and am looking forward to a great 2011 where I build upon the progress made in 2010 where I was finally for the most part injury free. My wrist is feeling great, and I didn't have to tape it at all last year, while the areas that were the last to shape up (FH Return, and short ball put away) have been cleaning up nicely while my forehand as a whole is coming around rather well. Lately I have been feeling pretty good about how I have been playing in tournaments and there is less of a gap between practice play and tournament play.

Now, to start with the goals. I will be mostly playing and concentrating on Men's Open Singles tournaments, however I will also play Men's Open Doubles tournaments, Mixed Open Doubles tournaments, and Men's 5.0 League.

Short Term: (1 Month/by Feb 15th)

1: Lose 15+ lbs. Due to limited playing combined with cold weather, and holiday merriment, I have added on some tonnage. This morning I clocked in at a staggering (for me) 183lbs. I believe my current ideal playing weight to be around 165lb, and while adding on about 10lb of muscle to that 165lb would be ideal, that is not a goal for the short term. I will be working out in gym 3x per week and cleaning up my diet.

2: Video myself hitting and serving. I have not seen myself hit since July, and I would like to see how things are looking currently.

3: Ease back into practice routines. For the next couple of weeks I will try to practice 2x per week, and then up to 3-4x per week. Normally I try to go back to playing full time right away and hurt myself again, so this time I am going to take it easy.

4: Practice my serve and regain my timing. Over the past 3 months I have been serving only when absolutely necessary to conserve my back, but as my biggest weapon it will require a great deal of sharpening.

5: Play 1 or 2 tournaments. Need to get back into the mode of regular tournament play after my poor showing at the national after Christmas.

Medium Term: (3 Months/by May 1st)

1: Build up leg and core strength and endurance. Last spring when I transitioned from my light indoor playing schedule to my full time outdoor schedule, my legs weren't strong enough to handle playing every day, and I struggled the first month, and had to cut back practice. This year I want to be sure to put in sufficient gym work to alleviate that. Also the off court work will take strain off my back.

2: Hit out more with my backhand and use it to attack more than rally. I get into the mode of defending with it too much.

3: Attack more with my FH return. I am often too passive with it, just floating the ball back deep and starting the point.

4: Play 5 tournaments. I should have a good base built up, and be into match play mode.

Long Term: (1 Year/by December 31st)

1: Improve my serve and forehand to become my two main weapons. If I am going to be able to hurt better players, these are the two things that are going to get it done.

2: Improve my transition game and net play. This along with my movement are my two biggest weaknesses, and will be vital in converting opportunities that I create with my weapons.

3: Improve my movement and balance. This is my biggest liability against better players, and nothing else I work on is of value if I am not in good position to hit quality shots.

4: Play 15 + tournaments. This year I played 17, and withdrew from one so 16 total. I think one per month is too few, and two per month is too many, so 1 ½ per month for 18 total would be ideal.

5: Play 2+ National tournaments. I have played 1 per year for the last 5 years, and would like to step up to at minimum two. Three would be ideal, but that would depend on finances and time off from work.

Year End: (By 12/31/2011)

1: Be ranked in the top 10 in Men's Open in the Eastern Section. My highest ever year end ranking was 12 last year, highest ever ranking was 3, also last year.

2: Be ranked in the top 100 in Men's Open Nationally. My highest ever National ranking was 111 in 2009.

Hit the sauna for 15 mins to loosen up, got in a light 45 minute workout, hit for about 40 mins, then played a match against my buddy. After that I didn't want to serve anymore, so I just returned his serves for 15 minutes or so, and tried to be more aggressive with my returns, which lead to missing more, but got me into the mindframe of leaning into the returns a bit more.

I returned very well, not particularly offensively, but I missed very few returns. Felt pretty lost with my serve to start, but it got better and better as the match went on, I started to pick up the timing.

I hit too defensively off the ground, was very consistent, hardly missed, except for a few long, which tells me I wasn't swinging out enough, and putting enough action on the ball.

Passing shots were excellent, very accurate, putaways were pretty good, I only hit a couple of volleys, so can't really comment. I did miss two easy putaways off of mishit returns that barely made it over the net, so that kind of sucked, but all in all it was a positive practice, and I wasn't winded or tired after.

My back is a little sore/achey but no sharp pain, just the normal feeling of using something I haven't used in a while. Shoulder is getting a bit achey now too, but I was only serving at 60% effort, so it should rebound nicely by the morning.

I couldn't video today as there was too much stuff going on at the club, but if I hit tomorrow, I will try to get some.

Good practice, good workout, no Advil required. Positive first step. We will see how it feels in the morning.

Hit the sauna for 15 mins to loosen up, got in a light 45 minute workout, hit for about 40 mins, then played a match against my buddy. After that I didn't want to serve anymore, so I just returned his serves for 15 minutes or so, and tried to be more aggressive with my returns, which lead to missing more, but got me into the mindframe of leaning into the returns a bit more.

I returned very well, not particularly offensively, but I missed very few returns. Felt pretty lost with my serve to start, but it got better and better as the match went on, I started to pick up the timing.

I hit too defensively off the ground, was very consistent, hardly missed, except for a few long, which tells me I wasn't swinging out enough, and putting enough action on the ball.

Passing shots were excellent, very accurate, putaways were pretty good, I only hit a couple of volleys, so can't really comment. I did miss two easy putaways off of mishit returns that barely made it over the net, so that kind of sucked, but all in all it was a positive practice, and I wasn't winded or tired after.

My back is a little sore/achey but no sharp pain, just the normal feeling of using something I haven't used in a while. Shoulder is getting a bit achey now too, but I was only serving at 60% effort, so it should rebound nicely by the morning.

I couldn't video today as there was too much stuff going on at the club, but if I hit tomorrow, I will try to get some.

Good practice, good workout, no Advil required. Positive first step. We will see how it feels in the morning.

J

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How old are you? That is a lot of physical pain issues. You sound like me. Im 45.

Fabulous thread already and you haven't even started. Looking forward to the progress.

Might be fun to post your current equipment (racquet, strings, shoes, etc) now and also if you make any changes as you progress in your quest. I know you've talked in depth about the equipment you use in other threads but it might be good just to have it here for the record, especially if you make any alterations along the way.

O dear, O my, the Korean Harvard 5.0 Holy Hotty McHamburglar is back from Boston and just texted me looking for battles...please J011y schedule a mixed match ASAP, we will travel...this post is not hyperbole...

O dear, O my, the Korean Harvard 5.0 Holy Hotty McHamburglar is back from Boston and just texted me looking for battles...please J011y schedule a mixed match ASAP, we will travel...this post is not hyperbole...

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Ok, let's do it next week. What location works for you guys? Possibly even Sunday afternoon/evening.

J, I have subscribed as well ... However, your first post says you are 183 lbs and a mere minute later you are 178 lbs. That is fantastic progress! Onwards ....

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I weigh myself on my digital bathroom scale every morning after I pee while wearing my boxers and a t-shirt. Wed morning I was 183, this morning after not eating junk or drinking beer, 45 minute workout and 1 1/2 hours of tennis the yesterday I was 178. We will see what tomorrow brings.

I had intended to play 9.0 and 10.0 mixed, but got derailed by being injured. So I think I am just going to concentrate on practice and tournaments until Men's league starts up. I really liked the guys on my 5.0 team so I will most likely play 5.0 men's again. It is very good practice for me, and everyone I played were great guys, so it is excellent for me to sharpen up my doubles play (Which is dubious at best haha), and every team has one or two 5.5-6.0 type players to play the singles spot so if I get to play singles then it is also great practice for me.

What didn't make the grade in the cleanout in addition to loose change, papers, receipts, mashed together power and cliff bars...

I bought the jumprope when I very first started playing tennis again, because every tennis player needs a jumprope. It has yet to make a single revolution, and so after carrying it around for 5 years, I have decided to cut it loose.

Same with the Nike grip thingy... Although I have used it for about 10 minutes over the past 5 years.

The black ball was supposed to be for good luck, but I need a new lucky charm, so that gets pitched.

I no longer have to tape my wrist, so I don't need the disposable razors anymore.

Don't even know how the Nike bag, or black book got in there, but they were never used, so they get taken out aswell.